Joplin schools rise from the ruins

8:51 AM,
Dec. 23, 2013

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JOPLIN - More than two years after a powerful tornado ripped through their city, students and parents in Joplin are seeing for the first time the finishing touches put on new school buildings.

Three new schools will open for classes Jan. 6 - Irving and Soaring Heights elementary schools as well as East Middle School. At an open house Monday, students and parents had an opportunity to wander the halls and see what the new facilities have to offer.

The first thing the Pardini brothers - Andrew, 13, and Nicholas, 11 - noticed was the size of the new East Middle School, roughly 160,000 square feet. ...